Becoming an expat has been one of the best – and most challenging – decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve always been an adventure seeker, someone who can’t stay in one place for too long. I knew I needed at least one big adventure in my life, but I never imagined just how transformative this journey would be.
In 2019, I made the decision to start exploring my options, putting my feelers out to see what opportunities I could find. I had my sights set on Oman – partly because of its strong currency and partly because I had heard good things from other teachers who had worked there.
I reached out to my first recruitment company, Erudite. However, at the time, teaching regulations in the Middle East were changing so rapidly that they couldn’t secure any viable interviews for me in Oman. Instead, they set me up with interviews in China. I vividly remember getting up for 4am interviews with a typical business at the top and party at the bottom attire. SIE gave me my first contract and I was surprisingly scared. I think the reality of becoming an expat hit me like a sack of bricks and if it wasn’t for a recruiter who kept following up with me I never would have taken that first step. I signed the contract telling myself that it was only paper and if I wanted I could just ghost them. But the contract let to the notary which let to a VISA and before I knew it I quit my teaching job back home.
July 2019 came and I bough my plane ticket. I was set to leave before Christmas to start my new life in January 2020. COVID-19 had other plans. Remember COVID? The uninvited guest who ignored the dress code and refused to leave? Panic quickly set in, I had just quit my job (which I loved), sold my furniture, moved in with my parents and bought plane tickets TO THE EPICENTRE! To say I was stresses is an understatement.
SIE was positive though, they kept me on standby and in March they told me to come. I bought a new ticket – 17 March 2020. Straight into Shenzhen. The only thing that got me onto that plane was my stubbornness – that unshakable part of me that refused to accept failure. I had to see this through, to prove a point – mostly to myself – that I wasn’t going to settle for a mundane life. I needed this adventure, and I wasn’t about to back down.
I could write a book about arriving in the epicentre of Covid-19. I could make a movie of the events that followed the virus that brought the world to its knees but that is a story for another day.
How is life being an expat? Nothing will prepare you for this wild mix of discovery, discomfort, and unforgettable moments. It’s learning to haggle over prices in a language you barely speak, celebrating holidays you didn’t even know existed, and finding comfort in foods you once thought were strange.
It’s having a collection of friends from around the world, each with their own stories of culture shock and survival. It’s a constant dance between homesickness and the thrill of new experiences, where the everyday becomes a small adventure – navigating street markets, mastering public transport, or just trying to find decent cheese.
You start to measure your life not just in years, but in visas, border stamps, and the number of times you’ve had to point out your country on a map. It’s challenging, empowering, and a little bit crazy – but for many, it’s exactly the kind of chaos that makes them feel alive.
-Nicola Bredenhann